


He didn't care

by HighPriest57



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Gen, I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm Sorry, Jason Todd is Alive, Misunderstandings, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Tim Angst, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric, Worried big brother Dick, more tags will be added as I upload more of the story, sad tim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2020-05-13 02:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19242025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighPriest57/pseuds/HighPriest57
Summary: A Tim leaves after a bad night out with the Batfam. He doesn't return for 6 months since he's hiding in a safehouse.I suck at summarizes.





	1. Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my first DC fanfiction so I'm sorry if anyone of the characters are ooc. This piece was originally a final I had to turn in for a writing class I was in but I liked it enough to go back through it and twist it into a story. If anyone would like to read the original then just ask and I'll post the original! Thanks for reading!

  
  
“Great going, Einstein,” Jason sneered as he sped through Gotham on his sports bike.   
  
“I'm sorry! I didn't know that the Joker would not only had Harley Quinn but also have the Riddler!” Tim yelled into his comm. The former Robins, along with Damian, and Batman had been tracking the Joker since he escaped from Arkham a few weeks before. They knew him and Harley had escaped but they were unaware that the Riddler was there, only when the smoke cleared did they notice the Riddlers bomb but it was too late for them to get all the way out of the blast zone.   
  
Damian was not happy as he pulled up behind Jason on his own bike, Tim and Dick were not that far behind them. Batman had gone ahead to try to calm himself down. Everyone was pissed at the one person in the world-no galaxy- that never seemed to be under stress, Tim.   
  
Bruce, AKA Batman, decided to speak up, “Enough! Stop arguing. Save it for the Batcave, understood?” This caused the former Robins, and Damian, to stop talking and just let their minds think on how they could let this happen along with what they were going to say to Tim.   
  
Tim rode in silence as he beat himself up over what had happened and he started to question his place as a partner to Batman. To say Tim felt bad was an understatement. He felt horrible for not checking to see if the Riddler was out or for doing a quick search for the bomb. Tim knew that he can't mess up like that again since someone could have gotten hurt, or worse, killed. He knew there was no point in explaining himself if no one would listen so he didn't even try.   
  
Once at the cave, it was like a bomb getting ready to go off, pun not intended. The tension in the air was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Damian looked like he wanted to say something while Tim looked like he wished he could just disappear.   
  
“This is all Timothy’s fault, Father,” Damian points out as Bruce just let out a sigh at what Damian said, this caused a chain reaction.   
  
“Replacement has been fucking up alot more recently. He is becoming a liability at this point!” Jason added. Tim and Jason never truly got along but they were getting closer, or so Tim thought. Tim could feel himself breaking at what his “brothers” were saying. Tim looked to Dick to see if he would deliver the final blow, but Dick never said a word so neither did Tim.   
  
“Boys, not now,” Bruce paused as he looked at his 4 sons with his cowl still on, “We can finish this discussion later, after I talk to each of you individually. I would like to speak with Dick first. I will call whoever is next when I'm ready.” The boys nodded their heads before leaving the cave, minus Dick and Bruce, once their costumes were put away.   
  
Tim decided that since it was still such a nice night that he was going to sit outside and watch the stars. He sat near the swimming pool with the animal shaped hedges surrounding him and the bench he was sitting on. He knew he should be inside working or training but he just couldn't bring himself to do those things since he didn't want to mess up anything else.   
  
The third Robin didn't realize his two brothers followed him outside until he heard them talk about how useful Tim really was. Tim was balancing on a thin line between yelling at his two brothers to shut up or just break down and start crying over the mistakes he keeps making. Tim decided that neither of those options were good since they both ended up with him getting in trouble so he just sat in his seat staring at the stars.   
  
Tim remembered happier times when his parents were alive and took him to places because his parents were forced to take him otherwise they would lose a contract deal. Tim remembers some of the places like Chippewa Falls and the Ridge in Wisconsin. Tim liked the Ridge since him and his parents’ partners kids would go to the top of the hill and jump into the water. He loved this feeling of falling then being sucked into the water but he was pulled from his day (night?) dream by a kick to his thigh. He blinked and looked at the offender, it was none other than Jason.   
  
“Dick wants you,” The older boy snarled. Tim scrambled off the bench and went over to the oldest brother. The taller of the two seemed bothered by something, which didn't look good on the usually happy man.   
  
“Everything ok Dick?” Tim looked at Dick as he prepared himself for anything.   
  
“Father says that he has given you the max number of mistakes. He's tired of you driving him up the wall.” It wasn't Dick who spoke, but Damian. Tim's eyes widened as his breathing picked up. Dick didn't say anything to disprove Damian. Tim had a feeling that the youngest was just trying to get under his skin, but then Dick finally spoke.   
  
“Bruce needs to speak to you.”   
  
“Dick, tell me what Damian is saying is not true! Please!” Tim grabbed Dick trying to will the possible truth away. The third Robin didn't know why he was being so emotional, that was something he was going to analyze later to understand why he was. Dick shook his head before nodding towards the opening of the batcave.   
  
“Go see what Bruce wants,” Dick simply says.   
  
Tim shook his head and laughed bitterly, “I don't need to since Damian told me what he wants. Just like what you, Bruce is going to take Red Robin from me.” Tim turns and leaves through the front door, grabbing his motorcycle keys on the way out.   
  
Tim drove off without even looking back. As he drove he had so many different thoughts, **_Did Bruce really get tired of him? Did he make too many mistakes?_** The thoughts consumed Tim, he didn't know how long he drove and when he stopped but all he remembers was stopping at one of his safe houses that only he knew about.   
  
As he went inside he took his helmet off. He set his keys and helmet next to each other in a basket near the door before he took his shoes off. He was disassociating himself with real life as he went through the motions of locking and arming the front door, locking all the windows before closing the curtains, he changed and went to bed. He fell asleep with a single tear rolling down his face.   
  
The next morning he woke up in so much pain. Both physically and emotionally. Tim laid in bed for the entire day, he knew he should get work done but how could he when all the vigilante thought was how Bruce, The Batman, didn't want him any more because of his mistakes.   
  
Tim thought back to the night before to figure out why he was so emotional; that's when it hit him he was so emotional because he didn't want to lose his family again, he didn't want to be driven out for stupid mistakes. Tim closed his eyes as he tried to will the tears that were threatening to fall away. Tim had one thought come up that caused the dam to break, _**Too late, they got rid of me once they will do it again.**_   
  
Tim curled into a ball and just let the tears he had been trying to not let fall since everyone he loved were either killed or disowned him and when the Robin mantle was taken from him. Tim cried four years worth of tears. He cried for Kon, for Steph, for Bruce, for losing Dick, for his father and mother, for Bart, for not telling Dick that he still needed the Robin mantle since it was the only thing that held him together, he even cried for when Jason died and came back only for the former Robin to realize that his cape was given to some kid that didn't deserve it. Tim cried for the first time in what felt like ages and he didn't care if he would be called weak, he didn't care if he got yelled at for not being able to hold the tears in longer.   
  
He. Didn't. Care   
  
Tim didn't bother going on patrol that night, or the next night, or the night after that. He stopped going out unless it was for coffee and food, but mostly coffee. He stopped answering his phone since he couldn't stop himself from breaking down at his wallpaper.    
  
His wallpaper was a picture of Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Jason, him, and Damian. They were at the beach when Dick was able to snap a picture of Bruce smiling at Jason and Damian while the two were wrestling on the beach. Alfred had taken Tim's laptop and was holding it in his arms while he was handing Tim a bottle of sunscreen. Dick was in the corner of the photo smiling as bright as the sun. Tim remembers that day so well since he had gotten sunburn on his back, Damian took a cold metal spatula and proceeded to slap his back so hard he had a bruise from it. When Damian removed the spatula some of Tim's dead skin came off it as well. Tim remembers being pulled off Damian by Jason while Dick pulled Damian away to get his throat checked out. Tim still smiles when he thinks of the bruises that were on his little "brothers" neck.    
  
It had been nearly 6 months since Tim stopped patrolling. He has been working on other cases and sends them to the Batcave with the alias of J.J.T. He still wanted to help even if he didn't want to risk going on patrol, so he solved the Bat-clans cases when he knew they weren't around to see him work on them.    
  
He would watch the news to see what was going in the real world but most of the time he stayed in his safe house. He was careful to not get seen by the press or go out at night. Except for one night, he had to go out to see who was screaming. As he ran out of the apartment and onto the roof he looked down into the alley. He was wearing his Red Robin outfit so no one would figure out his secret identity. He watched as a girl screamed for help as a guy was trying to mug her. The vigilante dropped down and knocked the guy out in no time. By the time he turned around the girl was gone but a dark figure replaced the girl.   
  
"Red Robin? Is that you?" The figure steps out of the shadow to show that it was Nightwing. Nightwing looked shocked that Red Robin was there and Tim may have taken it wrong because he ended up snapping ever so slightly at the older of the Batbros.   
  
"Yeah, don't worry I'll be out of your hair soon. You can take credit for capturing this guy to help Batman forget about the charity case he took in." Was Tim being a little salty? Yes, yet he thought it was warranted since they were the ones to act like he wasn't wanted by the family. Tim turned and left before the waterworks started again. He didn't want to start crying since Dick would tell Bruce how weak Tim had become. Not that Tim cared but he sorta had to care when it came to being a vigilante.    
  
As Tim left he heard his name, not his hero name but his real name, "Tim!" Tim didn't look back he couldn't go back to a family that would cast him aside.   
  
Later when he got to his safe house, once he knew for a fact that Dick was gone, he stared blankly at his wall. He didn't even notice how lose his suit was on him until he sat down. Tim could feel himself breaking even more at the thought of none of his family wanting him. Sure he came to terms with it already it's just somehow it felt more real when he saw Dick for the first time in almost 6 months. He didn't know when but he ended up laying down and falling to sleep not noticing the shadow that past by his covered window.   



	2. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick decides to talk to Timmy.

When Tim awoke he couldn't tell what time it was but he knew it was morning since his curtains were open. Tim was instantly on his feet and ready to fight, he knew for a fact that he closed his curtains last night. He goes through his house searching for who could have opened his curtains. 

The red and black vigilante didn't think anyone from the batfam knew where this safe house was, yet somehow his curtains were open. Tim didn't see anyone but as he was deciding on he wanted to go someone put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to tense. He grabbed the strangers hand and twisted it before flipping the person to their back, he was still holding the persons hand and twisting it back to the point it could cause dislocation until he saw who it was.

"What are you doing here Nightwing?" Tim let the older hero go since he knew that he wouldn't be able to dislocate Nightwings shoulder from that angle. He allowed the hero to get up as he glared at him.

"Good morning to you too." Dick, aka Nightwing, smiled at Tim before noticing the grim look on his little brothers face. Dick sighed, "I came to say sorry and that I want you to come home." 

Tim stares at Dick surprised. He blinks before shaking his head, "No. I'm not going to come home. I'm tired of being the mistake of the family, I'm tired of being the scapegoat. Do you know what it's like to be told that you are nothing more of a replacement, or that you are nothing but weak and a tool? Do you know what it's like to be called insane for thinking your adoptive father was alive and then later prove that you were right? If you have then sure I'll go back to the manor, but until then no I'm not going back only to be thrown out of the family, again might I add, for making a mistake that any of the others could have done. I'm sorry I'm not what you guys wanted, I honestly thought you guys would be different from my parents but...I guess that was hopeful thinking." Tim glares at Dick. The oldest looks so shocked that he didn't know what to say. 

Tim points to his door, "Now leave." 

Dick stood there staring at Tim as if he grew a third head but then he snapped out of it, "Is that what you seriously think Timmy?" 

Dick sounds angry but not at Tim, at himself and maybe at the family. Tim looks away as he slightly nods, he could feel a lump starting to form in his throat but he talks around the lump anyway.

"Who wouldn't feel like this? I mean its true but I guess I'm just tried of living in the lie that tomorrow will be different." Tim knows that he shouldn't be talking about this with Dick but he needs to get this off his chest so he went with the next best thing.

"I'm so sorry. Tim, please believe me when I say that isn't what any of us wanted to make you feel like. When Bruce had died I thought that you were just trying to cope by giving yourself false hope. I never should have called you insane or taken the Robin mantle from you. I never thought about how you felt, I was thinking about only Damian and I.

As to the mistake you made, you're right. Anyone of us could have made the mistake. Hell, anyone of us could have searched for the bomb or checked to see who else had escaped but we didn't so the blame was put on you. I'm sorry. Tim, if there is anyway that I could convince you to come home to see what Bruce actually was going to tell you I'm sure you'd change your mind." Dick said as he set his hand on his younger brothers shoulder, Dick was restraining himself from hugging Tim. 

Tim looked at his older brother as he felt tears welling up in his eyes, "I don't think I'm ready. The night I left I had asked, begged even, for you to tell me what Damian said was not true but you didn't disprove him so how am I to believe that you actually mean it?"

"Because deep down you trust me. Deep down you want to come home with me and see Bruce, Alfred, Jason, and Damian again. I didn't disprove what Damian said because I wasn't actually there. I was personally disturbed by a few things Bruce and I talked about. I'm sorry I didn't speak up and defend you." Dick looked at Tim seriously. Tim gulped at the look in Dick's eyes.

"I may want to go back but I can't. I don't think I can handle walking on eggshells again. I guess if you can prove that Bruce really doesn't want to take Red Robin from me then ok, I'll go. Until then, I'm staying here." Tim crossed his arms stubbornly. Dick blinked before breaking out into a giant smile.

"Deal." Dick hugged Tim without warning causing Tim to tense before easing back and relaxing in the hug.

"Do not tell Damian anything I told you. He'll just call me weak and incompetent," Tim said as he pulled out of the hug. Dick's smile damped before coming back full force.

"I'll talk to him and see if I can get him to like you more. But I promise not to tell him." Tim nodded.

"Alright. Now leave so I can get work done." Dick didn't argue as he went to the window and slipped away. Somehow Tim knew that Dick would keep his end of the bargain but he also wasn't holding his breath since it might take awhile.


	3. Memories

It had been nearly 3 weeks since Tim had spoken or seen Dick, which caused the teen to worry. Dick was not reporting for missions, not patrolling, not doing the very few cases the older hero actually will do, but the most important thing was that Dick had also been sent on a mission the day after he had spoken to Tim. Dick was probably in trouble or he was just trying to get Tim to go to the manor so Bruce can tell him whatever it was he wanted to on the night that Tim left. It was a tough choice between not wanting to go because he didn’t want to deal with Bruce and his worry for his oldest brother. The choice may have been a tough one but in the end, he was too worried about Dick.

With his mind made up and a flash drive of proof, Tim went to his red motorcycle. If this was serious then the teen had to quickly get to the manor to find out if Dick was ok and not find out that he had to clear his schedule for a funeral date. Is this how Dick felt when he went to the manor only to find out that Jason was killed by Joker? How did Dick deal with the anxiety of not knowing if his brother was dead or alive? Should Tim be freaking out? What is Tim going to say to Bruce?

Tim shook his head before putting on his helmet, those thoughts didn’t matter right now, what truly matters is that he was doing this for Dick. Tim swings his leg over the red vehicle before starting it then leaving the garage as quickly as he legally could. Did it seem more empty than normal? Tim turns his head to look around the part of Gotham he was in. There were definitely fewer people than usual but it didn’t seem like most people noticed. Was it possibly a holiday? No, Alfred usually texts him about important dates he needed to remember, Dick would also remind him of which occasion he was missing but even then there would still be an unnatural amount of people on the streets. Speeding up slightly Tim found himself at the manor in no time. The teen hero shuts off his bike before knocking on the front door. Alfred normally answers the door right away no matter where he was in the manor, but the door remained closed with no elderly Butler on the other side of the open door. He knocks one more time before giving up and trying the door to find it unlocked.

‘Shit….That’s not good.’ Tim thought as he prepared himself for anything. The young hero made quick work of checking the first floor, finding it empty, he moves to the next floor only to turn up with the same results, that is definitely odd. There was a possibility that Jason was on a mission out of town, Damian could have been at Jon’s house, but Alfred never leaves the house alone unless it was an extreme emergency. If it was that bad then they would have contacted Tim even if they were at odds with him. Unless they really thought that he was incapable of helping. Tim made his way down to the Batcave in case they were hiding down there. 

The Batcave hadn’t changed much in the 6 months that Tim had been away. The batcomputer was still just as large as before, above the computer was a catwalk with their suits on display. There was a door at the end of the catwalk next to the displays that led to bathrooms with showers. On the other side of the cave was an open space with workbenches, machines, and other things for the weapons and suits they use. Next to the workbenches was where the vehicles were kept since the secret entrance was near the vehicles. On the other side of the batcomputer but next to where the vehicles were parked was the med-bay. It was a white sterile room that held 5 stretchers, cabinets on one wall that was full of medical supplies, the room had a glass sliding door that was used for quarantining whoever was infected into the med bay. Underneath the stairs that led to the suit displays was a door that led to a room full of cells for criminals that they needed to keep for interrogation or for analysis. There were stairs in between the garage and workspaces. This led to a museum of sorts full of things they collected from adventures or were deemed too dangerous for the public to have and see. Bruce says it’s not a museum but Tim would say otherwise. There were two rooms on that floor since it was so large, the first room is the museum the next was the training room which had weight lifting equipment, acrobatic bars, targets to practice throwing batarangs, and practice dummies for hand to hand combat or other fighting techniques that would be useful to them.

Tim went to the batcomputer first since it was off which didn’t really make sense since Bruce hardly ever shut it off. Tim looked on the console to see if there were any codes, notes, or anything that would tell him what was going on. Tim noticed that the seat was still warm as if the person who had been sitting there had just gotten up. If that was the case then who was just here if it wasn’t Bruce? It could be an intruder but that was unlikely since there were no signs of forced entry but also the alarms were not going off. Turning on the computer held just as many clues as the console did which were none to the naked eye at least, the computer opened up to an open document with nothing written on the page to a normal person there wasn’t anything written on the page. Tim looked around to make sure no one was there and watching him before he set about finding out what was on the document. Tim typed his hero name on the document before a black screen with a gray box appeared with a text asking for a password and passcode. Tim typed in his information, hoping Bruce didn’t kick him out of the database.

When the young hero got to the main database he saw a file with his name on it, the only file there which made about as much sense as to what was going on around him. Tim opened the file to see what was in it, there were a couple of pictures and some sort of mission report. These must be the clues he was looking for that would tell him what was going on. The pictures were going to be the first he looked at since they were right there but sometimes, most of the time, they told more than the mission report since the mission report hardly ever was written by Bruce. The first picture was of Harley Quinn, she was holding a bloody baseball bat with nails in the top while she was in front of some sort of warehouse, the picture seemed like she was taking it since her other arm looked to be holding the camera. The warehouse looked like the one that had been destroyed in the blast, or was it not destroyed, Tim couldn’t remember but why can’t he remember? That was important but he couldn’t remember if it was destroyed or not. The next picture was of the Riddler, it was the police photo of him but the date was a few days after the explosion, he didn’t see that Nygma was caught and put back in Arkham. Tim stares at the picture trying to figure out what could possibly be going on. Shaking his head he moved to the next picture, this one was of the Joker, he didn’t seem any less screwed up and usual. The crazy clown was wearing his usual purple suit with that stupid smile but he was standing next to some sort of chemistry set or something. Nothing was making sense still so Tim turned his attention to the file.

‘The warehouse unit that I was told the Joker and Harley Quinn were at was the warehouse near Gotham bay, the warehouse had nothing out of the ordinary. It was nearing 1 am when we split up, Red Robin and Red Hood used their grappling hooks to get to the roof to enter through the roof. Nightwing went to the front door while Robin and I went through the back door. One by one, I heard ‘clear’ through my comms first it was Nightwing, then Red Hood, and Robin. We waited for Red Robin to respond, he responded by saying he found the Joker and Harley Quinn on the second floor. I told him to hold his position, which he obeyed. We all made our way to where he was, the area looked like the other warehouses but there were two levels to this warehouse. The plan from there was Red Robin, and Robin was to take out Harley Quinn; Red Hood, Nightwing and I were to take out the Joker. If the Joker and Harley Quinn’s goons were a problem then there was at least one person on each team that could stop fighting the main target to take down the goons. The fighting went as normal as fighting the two insane villains but the next moment I heard Red Robin in the comm say that there was a Riddler bomb. I turned to Nightwing signaling him to go to Red Robin to see the situation not trusting the Joker. I expected Red Robin or Nightwing to give me an update, I told Red Hood to go get me an update on what was going on. With no arguments, he ran over to where Nightwing had disappeared. Red Hood described that there was a large container that looked like it would release a toxic gas but there was a timer that Red Robin was trying to avoid going off and Nightwing was fighting off 10 goons. Joker and Harley Quinn had escaped by a speed boat in Gotham Bay. Unable to follow, I had turned my attention to the bomb that Red Robin was working on. I went over to the bomb to see what was going on, there were 5 minutes left, Red Robin was typing as furiously as he could. I watched as the time hit 40 seconds, I announced a retreat since the bomb was about to go off and there was no way for us to escape if we waited longer and Red Robin was not going to be able to disarm the bomb in time so in order to avoid the loss of life I made the decision to retreat and we could pick up the bomb pieces. Red Robin agreed to leave but had to unhook his cord from the bomb. Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin had left already and I wasn’t far behind. Red Robin was a few steps behind me when the bomb went off, one step too late. Red Robin was within the blast zone so he was hit with whatever the gas was. Red Robin’s wounds were…..’ That was where the file had ended. Tim sits back in the seat surprised and confused about what was going on. 

After a few moments of thinking, Tim ends up deciding that it might be best to go back to the warehouse since it was where the explosion was, possibly he could get a sample of the bomb and its contents to bring back for analysis. He hopes that he wasn’t transported to a different Earth but that wouldn’t have happened since he had talked to Dick not that long ago. There were so many things that did not make sense with this situation yet if he could just recount everything that had happened up until this point then something might help make it not so confusing. The first step would be getting a chemical makeup of the gas that was in the bomb. Tim left after copying the contents of the batcomputer onto his wrist computer along with the coordinates of the warehouse, or what was left of it. If the teen hero took one last look behind him just in case this was the last time he’d ever see it, well, there was no one there to actually prove if he did or not.

Following the coordinates took Tim to a warehouse that was somehow still standing, how that was possible the hero did not know but if he investigated more into the warehouse then he could possibly find out about what was going on. Tim did a quick perimeter check to make sure he wouldn’t get ambushed while he was searching around the building. Doing one more check Tim noticed how there was no activity going on anywhere near this warehouse which was unusual since a warehouse on the docks was always a good place for criminal activity or just a shipping company unloading their shipment. With that in mind, Tim made his way into the warehouse to see if there was anything there that could solve the mystery. Tim entered through the roof like he had the night this whole thing started since it would give him more of an idea on what could have happened, this lead him to the second floor. His eyes widen at what he sees, could he be dead?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know it's been so long since I've uploaded anything! I'm sorry! My life has been so crazy, the device I wrote this story on was either lost or stolen, I've been having a bad cloud of depression that has hit me, on top of that I'm finishing highschool so I haven't been focusing on my stories but I'll try to get a more frequent uploading schedule. Thank you so much to everyone who commented or comments, your comments are literally the things that help me get the chapters out. Sorry this is so long, this took so long to get out, but just know that there might be one more chapter after this one. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me!


End file.
